Sentry
by SSTR87
Summary: What is a sentry? A sentry is a guardian, ever-present and there to keep watch for the safety of others. Something happened four years ago to Naruto. Now, under a new name living the life he honestly deserved, that something is dragging him back. Dark-fic NarutoxKarin
1. Chapter 1

A young man in his late teens sat up in bed clutching at his chest tightly. His blonde hair fell in a cascading wave along his neckline and his blue eyes looked up the dark gloom of the bedroom that he found himself in. The room was his, there were photos of himself, his wife - although the images were too shaded to make her out clearly - and his children hanging across the walls. His plush bed was a cocoon trying to keep him within, even as the young man dragged himself away from a limp arm.

He reached up with his right to wipe at his tired eyes and made his way towards the closet. Opening the door, he spied a simple house robe and pulled the orange colored attire free before wrapping himself in its warmth.

Again the lightning flashed, but there was something strange about it. It made the man pause even as he headed for his daughter's bedroom. A tiny voice, something calling out to him from the shadows...

The young man shook the feeling off and took a moment to peek into his infant daughter's room, only born six months prior. A shadow of a man was standing over he crib as the father peered within.

"Huh? What the?"

As the father shoved the door open there was no one within, but the sounds of tree limbs scratching against the windows as the wind began to pick up gave the man the impression he'd been staring at shadows. He took a moment to walk up to the crib and peered over the edge to the child within. A little girl, crimson hair and purple eyes with a set of scratch-like marks on her cheeks.

"Scratches?"

The father worriedly looked over the girl's face once more, only there was no such a thing. Her face was creamy and smooth as he always remembered it. The man paled as he wiped his own face.

'What the hell is going on?'

Another flash of lightning and the rolling of thunder followed it, taking the young father's attention away from himself and his own _demons_. He looked back towards the doorway as he heard a sniffling noise. Standing there was a little boy, barely four years old, with blue eyes like his father, crimson hair like his sister and mother, holding a large red fox stuffed animal. His eyes were hauntingly familiar in the darkness, and the man almost shivered.

"M-Menma? What are you doing up?"

The young father moved swiftly over to his son and scooped him into his arms, lifting the child into the air.

" **Did you think you could hide from me, Naruto?"**

The father paused momentarily, staring in question at the boy in his arms whom had spoken. His voice was nothing like the man was used to. It made him stop to gaze more closely at his son. His son with crimson, glowing eyes, slitted like some feral beast. His son with jagged scars along his cheeks, looking like thick whiskers. His son with elongated canines, snarling at him.

"Men-?"

"Arashi?"

At the call of his name, Arashi, the same man that was the father to his two beautiful children, spun on his heels to regard his wife. The young woman with crimson hair that fell down her back, one side naturally crinkled much to the woman's constant annoyance, the other side perfectly straight. She was holding a small lamp in her hands, the bit of cubed glass burning kerosine affixed by chain to a handle.

In the dimness of the night, it was hard to see her beyond the brightness of the fire that was, even now, illuminating the bedroom.

"What are you doing in here?"

Arashi frowned as he looked at his son, his face now sorrowful and more than a bit frightened. As lightning brightened the room, the child in his arms tensed.

"Sorry, I was checking on Mito. It seems the storm woke up Menma."

For a moment his wife looked a bit annoyed, but her features quickly softened and she made her way into the room, taking Menma from Arashi's arms silently, with no protest from the child.

"There there, Menma-chan... Shhh, mommy's got you."

Her voice was a soothing balm on the raw nerves of the child, Menma collapsing quickly into slumber on her shoulder while Arashi could only smile softly at the woman. As his wife made her way towards the hallway again, Arashi took the lamp and moved to kiss the forehead of Mito, his darling daughter. There was a lash in the shadows that Arashi felt, more than heard or saw. It was a presence he knew, yet his mind was rebelling against him, telling him there was no possible way he could know the person.

In fact, there was no person there... Even when Arashi shone the light to every corner of the room, there was no one there.

The young father rued at his eyes again and gave a great yawn.

'Bathroom first, then bed again.'

The man nodded softly and started to make his way towards the washroom of the house, padding heavily on the floor, his foot steps echoing loudly in the empty hallway.

For a moment, he heard what sounded like explosions replacing every step. His sense of balance was thrown off kilter and he felt the entirety of the house lurch to the left, then right violently, as if he were on a boat or some other unsteady surface...

"Arashi-kun? You're starting to worry me."

It his wife again, her face screwed up in a tight, pensive, expression. She had her hands akimbo, no longer holding Menma as she stood steadily on the trembling floor. Arashi slapped his cheeks a few times, harshly, and the room stopped spinning. The room stopped shifting, but that didn't stop his guts from roiling.

He made a mad dash across the hall and buried his face in the toilet, spewing what contents were in his belly.

"Buh-larrrrph! Uhhh... Larrrrph!"

The woman moved to his side, kneeling at the toilet while holding back his hair.

"See, this is why you shouldn't go out drinking with Tazuna!"

Her voice was admonishing, yet held no real heat. In fact, she was worried, just like she had said she was. Arashi continued to spew his guts out while he felt a smoldering ember burn at his guts! He wasted no time and started ripping away at his shirt, discarding it in ruined shreds as he gave a loud, gut-rending, blood-curdling scream!

"AAAHHHH WWWOOOOOOOO-AAAARRRRR!"

The scream gave way, at the halfway point to a beastial howl that shook the house and made his darling wife cover her ears and cower backwards. As he felt the howl draw to a close he looked at her, blood seeping through her fingers, spilling from her ears as she looked upon him with fear made manifest in her eyes.

"K-Karin... Oh god... I'm-"

The redheaded woman trembled, a bruise swelling up on her cheek and the telltale signs of a bruise forming over her eye. Her lower lip trembled as she bit back a sob and merely coiled up on herself in a corner.

"I... I wouldn't hit you! You have to believe me!"

Arashi's words were panicked, fear in his as he stared at his hands, his knuckles bruised. The evidence was there, clearly. And the look in her eyes, in Karin's sweet, innocent eyes, said that she knew what had happened between one moment and another.

Arashi climbed to his feet and looked into a mirror, his face belonging to a stranger! He saw himself there, truly, but the boy looking back was four years younger than him, blue aged eyes meeting a set of purple on purple eyes with silver concentric circles, seven in number. He saw six matching whiskers on the younger boy's face and a harsh glare, threatening the labor-hand with death for his actions against his wife.

"You! Who are you?"

The reflection merely held his gaze in it, the younger teen in the mirror fading away to reveal only himself.

" **You thought you could hide from me, Naruto?"**

That same dark voice! Arashi spun to face Karin, now standing lifelessly, like some strange marionette, her shoulders slumped and her face hidden in darkness. A set of glowing slitted eyes peered from the darkened face, glowing with an unholy light.

"K-Karin? Honey, are you alright?"

He knew better than to ask! After all, he had just struck her! He had no right to e checking on the well-being of his wife. Yet, the concern in his voice was palpable. He took a trembling step forward and reached out with a hand, through the gloom of the room. His right hand landed on the side of Karin's face, cupping her cheek, her ear, feeling the woman flinch and tremble under his touch.

"Please..."

Karin's voice was broken. Feeble. It sounded like a defeated woman's. A woman that was ready to die.

Arashi inhaled sharply and moved another step closer, wrapping her in his arms...

Arashi sat bolt upright, once more in his bed, this time with Karin sitting up in the bed beside him. The storm he'd seen the night before, it had passed. Or perhaps it had never actually happened?

"Stop drinking, Arashi... You get those nightmares..."

Karin's voice, it was a lot healthier than the last he heard her speak. But, then again, it may have been the dream.

The young man - nineteen years in age, father of a four year old and a six month old – collapsed on himself. He gave Karin a nod. As he looked at his wife's face, he realized she no longer sported the bruises, nor the budding black eye. He gave a heavy sigh in relief. It had only been a dream this time! That was a relief.

"Yeah. You're right, Karin. Like always, you're right."

The redheaded woman lifted her smiling face to Arashi's, revealing she was currently feeding little Mito on her teat. With a free hand, she help up a V with her fingers, grinning widely.

"That's right, husband-dear! Now, you'd better get dressed. You have work today."

Arashi nodded his head and hopped from the bed, clad in a set of white boxer shorts and a white t-shirt with a cresting blue wave on it. He looked down at his hands and noticed the subtle hint of a bruise on his middle knuckle. With a frown, he turn to ask Karin, but paused. She was holding Mito while humming some lullaby to the child.

Looking at his hand again Arashi witnessed the flesh repair itself with a wisp of crimson smoke. He shook his head in disbelief before standing up. Some weird lingering affect of the sake Tazuna had given him last night. It had to be! He'd be confronting his boss and friend today, that was for certain.

"Right, gotta get dressed."

While running a hand through his hair, Arashi moved to the closet and opened it. Looking inside he pulled out a set of rough, well worn, brown trousers and a beat up white shirt. He nodded to himself as he headed or the bath with his chosen clothes in his hands.

While walking the hallway, he heard the sound of his son's feet as the boy raced along towards him, suddenly holding his leg tightly.

"Menma?"

"Don't go daddy! Stay home and play with me and Mito!"

The little boy obviously had no idea what he was asking, but the thought that his own son wanted to spend time with him lifted Arashi's heart.

"I wish I could, little one, but daddy has work to do."

Menma frowned when Arashi said those words, he never looked up as his father began to renew his journey toward the wash room. But something came from the boy's throat. A harsh whisper that Arashi heard deep within his soul.

" _Daddy is a good boy."_

Arashi frowned while spinning around, seeing Menma rushing down the hall, playing games with his own shadow. His little boy was pretending to be a ninja, or maybe a samurai; the father would never really know as the actions were essentially the same from game to game.

'Weird. Why did that sound so familiar?'

Arashi shook himself from his musings before entering the room and shutting the door behind him with a soft "click". The moment he stepped into the wash room, alone as he was, the world changed.

He was no longer in his house. No, he was in some underground sewer. Massive pipes lined the walls, and Arashi spun in place, looking to and fro for how he might have entered here.

"H-Hello?! Is anybody here? How do I get out of here?"

His calls went unanswered and he began to wander.

To wander...

A set of glowing eyes shone from a corner, then another... The first were an inferno of red flames, crimson like fresh blood and promised death, the second a haunting blue, burning like the soft fires of a stove top.

Arashi swallowed nervously. A single eye was large enough to swallow him up whole. Whatever was watching him, it unnerved him greatly. Yet, at the same time, it was so familiar...

" **Naruto?"**

That name again! But, that was the name he heard only while drunk. He was certain that while he had a slight hangover, he was no longer intoxicated. Yet, there was something far greater and stronger than anything he could dream of calling him that name.

"N-Naruto? No, I'm Arashi. Uzumaki Arashi."

He protested, raising his hands in a warding gesture. Maybe they, these massive demons, would spare him if he wasn't who they were seeking.

" **He still doesn't remember."**

The voice seemed to come from the one with blue eyes. The voice was distinctly female and seemed a bit... amused?

The larger of the two shook its head and closed its eyes, the overwhelming pressure falling away in that simple gesture. The second held no contempt and only seemed to want to approach Arashi, curiosity, a strangely human trait, danced in the soft flaming eyes.

"Um, what do you mean? Remember what?"

The blue eyes curved up in humor as a soft laugh bounced through the sewer before those eyes too closed.

Just as Arashi was working up the courage to approach the flaming eyes, he found himself taking a jarring step forward in the wash room once more.

"What's going on with me today? Maybe Tazuna's drink was spiked with something?"

Washing his face in the sink basin, Arashi let those strange episodes go...

"Arashi-kun! Break for lunch!"

It wasn't long before Arashi was at work, busily hammering some nails when a voice called out. The voice was familiar to the young man and he paused to wipe the sweat from his brow and pulled the hard hat from head while setting his hammer away. The sun was high in the sky and beating lightly on the young man's back in a very welcomed way.

"Yeah, boss! I'll be right there."

Tazuna grinned from ear to ear, waiting for his favorite worker to descend the wall they were erecting. The boy had been a godsend all those years ago! And, if not for his low-tolerance of alcohol, Tazuna would have more than called the young man his replacement! Sure he had his grandson, Inari. But, Inari was still leagues from knowing the ins and outs of architecture. Hell, his grandson still tried forcing square objects through round holes in his designs.

Speaking of Inari, the boy and his mother were making their way up to Arashi which made Tazuna sigh. He sighed, not because they were bothering the young man. No. He sighed for lost opportunities. Had he met Arashi a mere week earlier, he might have convinced the boy to marry his daughter, Tsunami. Sure she was a few years – maybe ten – older, but that was just experience!

Even as he watched the interaction of the three, he saw that little glimmer of light, the spark of interest between potential lovers flash from Tsunami to Arashi and by god, if his eyes were failing him, he'd say Arashi was returning it...

Another sigh left Tazuna.

"Hey boss?"

Tazuna looked up at Arashi, his ever-present smile on his weathered face matching Tazuna's own.

"I was wondering what you put in that sake last night? Karin said I had some serious nightmares outta it."

Tazuna coughed lightly into a hand and shrugged.

"I don't spice my own sake. That's Tsunami's job. She's a genius at distilling."

His words were true, and his daughter's light flushing of face was not a deterrent of that truth.

Arashi looked over at Tsunami and stared long and hard at the nearing middle-aged woman. Beauty defined her. Long black hair, that fell perfectly along her back, a wasp's waist, large and rounded breasts with slight shoulders, wide hips, and a warm and inviting face. Had he not met Karin on a drunken night, a few days after arriving in Greater Naruto, in The Land of Wave, he might have pursued the woman, even if he was only a teenage boy at the time.

"Tsunami-san... I hate to ask you, but I fear I may have had an... _allergic_ reaction?"

Arashi shrank in on himself at the way he stumbled through his lie, but neither Tazuna, nor Tsunami seemed to catch on to it. In fact, both looked at Arashi in concern, checking him over, visually, for any lingering ailments.

"Well, I did add a bit of Chakra capsules to that batch. I'm working on a ninja variant for soldiers on the go to enjoy the alcohol without burning themselves out."

Tsunami's words were accompanied by a strange glance to her father, the man returning the look with one that equally puzzled. The strange thing was the lack of a reaction from Inari at all. The boy seemed to be focused on something else entirely.

Arashi followed the younger teen's gaze and found a trio of young girls, none being from Greater Naruto, and if the hitae-ite were anything to go by, they weren't from Wave at all. The man's back straightened a bit as the squad of four, A Jounin in full combat attire with Hyuuga eyes led the three girls, more than likely his Genin squad.

It wasn't uncommon for Kiri or Konoha ninja to venture through here, as Wave had become a major travel venue for the two nations ever since the village's hero, a boy named Naruto had liberated them from a business tycoon.

The man approached Tazuna with familiarity and nodded in the general direction of Tsunami and Arashi.

"As always, it's a pleasure to see you, Tazuna-san. And Tsunade is looking forward to testing out your next batch of sake, Tsunami-san."

The man's words were carefully spoken, almost calculated to gain the relaxation of the bridge builder and his daughter. Arashi noticed this easily enough. Inari was flushing a bit as the three girls approached him, one was clearly a Hyuuga girl and seemed to hold Inari by the coattails.

"Come along, Inari. I wish to show you my ideas for my country house."

The girls words were like a whip cracking the air and had Inari immediately at her side, joking with the girl as he and her teammates wandered in the general direction of the food stalls. A name whispered itself through the air, tickling at the back of Arashi's mind...

" _Neji"_

Arashi excused himself to go wash his face of sweat while he still had some time left for his lunch break. It was a normal thing to do. No one thought anything of it, not even the young man himself.

So then, why was he heading into foliage with the Great Naruto Bridge to his back?

Why was he now on his knees in the forest, digging in the ground with his bare hands?

 _ **K-tink!**_

That was a rather strange sound... Arashi frowned as he began to dig around whatever had made that noise. It was a glass bottle, a rather one at that. He stared at the bottle and nearly flung it away.

A pair of eyes - both purple on purple with silver concentric circles emitting from the center outwards – were looking back at him. He saw a face, then another...

A... hero? A villain? A god? An Angel?

The thoughts associated with the faces were spinning through emotions rapidly until Arashi felt himself start to lose his balance. The eyes sloshed around in the jar, glaring at him in accusation.

"A-Arashi-kun?"

That voice, it was familiar. Arashi whirled, confronted by Karin, holding in her arms baby Mito, while tears flowed freely from her eyes.

The man frowned and looked at the jar in his hands, then back up to Karin.

"You promised you wouldn't drink anymore! Now you're running out to the woods to do it?!"

The woman trembled while shaking her head in disbelief.

Arashi stepped forward, towards Karin, but she swung an arm out.

"No! That's enough! I can't handle the lies anymore! I don't want a drunk for a husband! I'm tired-..."

Karin fell silent, slumping to the ground, with Mito still clutched tightly in her arms. The lightest rainfall began to pelt the couple and the infant. Random bouts of rain were common enough here in Wave that neither paid any attention to the water flowing, but it did hide the tears that would no longer be kept back.

"It's not what you think, Karin... This jar. It's got all of the answers."

Arashi tried to plead with his wife, his hands gesturing for understanding. Karin refused to even look up, much less to listen. The man felt his shoulders fall.

"I'm going to my family home, Arashi. I can't let the kids be around you with your problems..."

Arashi swallowed and felt like a puppet with his strings clipped. His mouth wouldn't work to fix the problem and his mind was failing him. He was losing everything and all so fast!

"I... I understand..."

Those words. Were they really his? What else could he have said in reply? He screamed at himself to grab Karin and hold her tightly, but then he recalled the bruises from the night before... Had they been real? An attempt to keep control of her and his kids?

Karin wiped at her face and got to her feet before turning her back on Arashi and wandering away, her head swinging back and forth in disbelief...

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoO**

 **AN: Okay, so this story is going to seem weird and different. Basically I'm borrowing a writing style I've never seen much less used before. So in the styling of Sentry, I'm going to put together a story of a man that thinks he might be more than he is. Clues will e found as he puts things together. By now, you, the readers, had better realize that Arashi is Naruto.**

 **Now, how did he get the Rinnegan eyes in a jar?**

 **Why does everyone think he's Arashi?**

 **What's up with the visions and drunken episodes?**

 **These questions I will answer as indirectly as possible until thinks come to a head. They will come to a head, and it will be explosive!**

 **SSTR87**

 **Written 12/28/15**


	2. Chapter 2

Arashi was at a loss as he fingered the jar in his hands. He was alone at the moment, Karin and his kids having left him. It wasn't like he was gonna drink this concoction! After all, he didn't know what the hell was even in it! No, he didn't have a drinking problem at all. He hardly touched the stuff, even for all of Karin's worrying over him. The most he ever did was a sip here and there.

"What the hell am I doing?"

Arashi held no answers for himself, and thus none were forthcoming. He sighed and let his tears fall freely.

'Grown men don't cry.'

The thought was scoffed at and ridiculed by the man as he began to twist the lid of the jar open. A loud hissing filled the bedroom followed by a blue gas bubbling from the jar and reaching out for Arashi as if it had a life of its own.

Ghostly hands formed from the cloud of gas and its ethereal fingers clawed up the builder's arms before the teen quickly twisted the lid tight again. His face had gone pale in those few seconds and he nervously stared at the jar, the eyes returning his look.

"Damn... Why can't I throw you away?"

Again, Arashi held no answers for himself, even as he held the jar as gently as one would his precious child.

The young man gave a huff and set the jar on his nightstand before lying back, crossing his hands over his chest and relaxing.

The moment of relaxing ended abruptly as he found himself suddenly holding the jar and leaping from his bedroom window. He wasn't given the chance to scream in fear when-

 _ **BWOOOSH!**_

To his back, his entire home was obliterated! A raging flame chased his back even as the blonde man tucked in a fashion speaking of training, absorbing the impact into the ground and rolling with the momentum, feeling nothing of what should have been a bone-jarring experience.

His widened and horrified eyes looked up at the fires consuming his livelihood. The testament to all of the work he had put in here in Wave. Luckily his wife and the kids were gone. They could start again elsewhere. At another time.

"Hm? You escaped?"

The voice was twisted, malicious and cold. It sent a shiver along Arashi's body as he looked around, trying to find the source. A shadow flickered to right and he went on the defensive, falling into a stance he had no idea how to use.

There, standing in the flames of the burning house and slowly strolling out was an older man, slightly shorter than Arashi himself, dressed in a black cloak, parted in the front to reveal black shinobi pants, a black shirt, an orange mask with a spiraling pattern that culminated on a single exposed eye.

The man wasn't bothered, much less affected by the flames as he casually strolled from the wreckage. The stranger pulled a sword from his back and held it in a ready stance before charging Arashi, ready to cut him down.

Arashi flinched and held his arms in front of himself, crisscrossed with that damnable jar in his right hand, clenched in a defended manner.

For an eternity nothing happened...

Slowly Arashi opened his eyes.

Karin was sitting in the bed beside him with a frown on her gentle features.

"You just had to go out drinking again, didn't you? Even after I caught you with that moonshine in The Burning Woods."

Arashi sweated buckets as he looked at his hands, both balled and clenched tightly, blood spilling where his fingers had dug through the flesh of his palms. Slowly and with great effort, he managed to pull free his fingers from his palms and shakily his right hand lifted to run through his hair, washing the blonde locks in crimson blood.

Karin frowned as she took her husband's hands in her own and gently began to clean them, dousing a cloth in alcohol before cleaning the open wounds. The man flinched at the searing sensation and squinted his eyes.

"You... Stayed?"

His question was a puzzle to Karin, and she looked up at him in curiosity.

"What do you mean, my love? I was supposed to go somewhere?"

Arashi shook his head, allowing her to treat him. His room and the house were perfect, pristine. So then... What the hell had he just witnessed?

"It... It was just the damn nightmares... They're getting realer."

Karin frowned and nodded. She knew that they were. She had to sleep next to him as he tossed and turned in the night. She had to listen to him whimper and cry, tear at his own flesh and gnash teeth. Trying to wake him only resulted in his violent lashing to be carried into his wakeful state, and she had more than enough broken bones and injuries over the years to remind her that _that_ was a bad idea.

"Karin, what do you see?"

Arashi's words shook the mother and wife from her internal thoughts of the past, to the present.

The young man, Karin's husband was holding up a jar of clear liquid that sloshed like water.

"When you see this jar. What are you looking at?"

Arashi was pensive, biting his lower lip as he waited for the answer. He was truly and desperately hoping that the woman could see what he was looking at.

"It's moonshine. I'm no fool, Arashi. I know you don't jar water."

Arashi released an exasperated sigh, his shoulders falling heavily while he brought the jar into his lap.

"Karin... There's something happening. A darkness is coming. I can feel it."

The woman gazed at him with confusion. What else was she supposed to do? Sure she was an Uzumaki, but her mother was a medic, not even a mednin. She herself was a failed kunoichi twice over, both for Kusagakure (The Village Hidden in Grass) and for Otogakure (The Village Hidden in Sound) under both Otokage (Orochimaru and Uchiha Sasuke). She had no idea what to do for a man that could feel the stirrings of something approaching. She was still getting her head around being a mother. At least she was useful in that manner!

"Do you know... No never mind..."

Arashi stalled, his original inquiry involving the man in the mask, but he thought better of it. After all, his dreams never related to things that were real. After all, what man could walk through fire?

Karin was concerned for her husband and wrapped him in her arms tightly.

"We'll figure it out, my love. Together."

Arashi smiled as he returned the embrace.

The wailing of Mito broke the scene and saw to the parents getting out of their bed. Not even a pace from the infant's bedroom, Arashi spotted his son giggling to himself as he looked a wall where nothing but his own shadow existed.

"Hey, Menma, what are you doing over there?"

"I'm playing with my imaginary friend, Bento (Lunchbox)!"

With the declaration, Menma was pointing at the wall where his shadow waved at Arashi before returning to being just that. A normal shadow. Arashi never paid any mind to it, only nodding his head before scooping Menma in his arms.

"I'm staying home tonight, if you wanna play with daddy today."

Menma smiled, grinning from ear to ear in the way only children can express. His little arms wrapped about his father's neck.

"YAY! Let's play now!"

The giddy shout made Arashi laugh. It felt nice to have so much life in the house. While holding Menma in his arms, Arashi realized that he was still clutching the jar from before. With a frown he slid the bottle into his pants pocket. It would have to do. At least for now.

Karin came from the baby room with Mito in her arms and sauntered up to the two men in her life, kissing each while Mito burbled and giggled cutely at the action while Menma gave a sour expression. Arashi for his part used an arm to wrap the redhead close to his body.

"I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you in my life."

Karin smirked with a cute wink at the man, a full head above her in height. For a regular guy he cut an imposing figure, something Karin was happy to have...

The happy moment was snatched away as Arashi found himself standing in the center of a crater. Okay, standing was the wrong verb. He was lying in the dirt, pinned down by thick black rods while a young Hyuuga woman moved to defend him. He couldn't hear her words what with the agony of having Chakra ripped from his coils.

Wait... Since when did he have Chakra or Chakra coils? Those eyes, the same ones from the jar in his pocket, gazed down on him mockingly. A tall orange-haired man holding the Hyuuga girl off with little issue before striking her dead.

Arashi felt himself growl before things shifted, the man's face changed to those burning, glowing red eyes.

" **Naruto, you thought you could hide from me?"**

For the first time Arashi understood. The thing seeking him out. Those eyes. It felt the same as the voice. That hauntingly familiar voice! His head ached and he reached up to hold it, the scene falling away like water.

"Arashi!"

Karin's reproving voice shook the builder as she snatched Menma from his arms. The blonde man, truly the only blonde in the family, stared in confusion as he wiped at the liquid leaking from his lips. What did she want?

He paused as he looked at his left hand, the hand that had wiped at his lips and saw a blue color. His eyes widened and his skin paled before he stumbled back a step. He lost his footing, his hand reaching out to steady him against a wall, but he missed the wall before slamming the ground hard.

"Menma, take your sister to her room!"

Arashi stumbled about the ground, slamming his fist against his chest to fight the burning sensation of the liquid, looking to all the world a drunk trying to hold down his liquor. The sight of... disappointment in Karin's eyes was sobering for the man, but it didn't help him in his current situation.

"I... That jar... Help me!"

Karin frowned while shaking her head to and fro. She wouldn't leave him to wallow like some fish out of water. No, she moved to kneel at his side and pulled an arm over her shoulder before helping her husband to his feet.

"Seriously, you couldn't even stop yourself in front of your own children?"

The harsh admonishment stung like a cat of nine tails, ripping his flesh raw. Honestly, Arashi wasn't even aware he had been doing it, locked into his other world as he was. That demonic world of nightmares.

"I... I have to... I need to leave... It's coming... The Darkness."

Karin stared harshly at her husband while shaking her head.

'Every time.'

Her thoughts were sad and pitying as she recounted how many times he was whisper those words to her in his sleep. The first year of her marriage, she had been so terrified of waking up to being alone again. Yet, here he was. Four years of hearing the same line, but only when he drank. It was how she could tell when he was drinking. She gave no heed to the words and helped the man, the drunkard, to his bed, where she tucked him in.

As Karin turned to to leave, her destination being the kids, Arashi's right hand caught her wrist, his eyes wild and slowly growing to that of anger. She grimaced and swatted the hand away before his fingers could dig into her flesh. Far too many times she had been in this same situation, and every time, at the end, her darling Arashi would return. It was only a matter of keeping him still until it ran its course.

"Don't you get it?! The Darkness! It's coming!"

The shout came in a sinister bout of agitation. He gnashed his teeth until they bled as she hissed at Karin. For a moment the woman almost stayed. For a moment...

In the next, she was walking out of the bedroom door, letting it close softly and pressing her back to it while releasing a tired sigh. A fearful sigh. He was getting worse and not better.

Within the room Arashi got out of the bed and raced to the closet, flinging his and her clothes left and right as he sought something out. What exactly, he wasn't certain. At least he was certain until he found it.

There!

A set of ugly pajamas, a pair of pants that were several sizes too short for him and a top that barely stretched to encompass his torso. The pajamas were dingy green with frog faces on them in random patterns, yet to Arashi's eyes they were venerated combat gear. Something that would ensure he'd be safe when he left to face The Darkness. He kept sliding through the clothing until he came across a patchwork black coat, barely on its last leg.

"My gear is still here, but I need... Weapons?"

He struggled to get the coat over his shoulders without tearing it then nodded.

Dressed like a transient to all onlookers, the builder slid open the window to the bedroom and swallowed before leaping, trusting his body to react and save him, like in his dreams.

 _CRACK!_

Arashi winced, barely biting back the scream as he felt fire burning up his leg. A simple glance revealed his right leg had snapped cleanly in two, a bit of his bone pressing against his skin, trying to punch through.

"Well, that was kinda dumb."

Arashi looked around, spying a little toad or frog, he couldn't tell. It seemed to be watching him. It turned about and began to leap away.

Pain being pain, Arashi gritted his teeth and dragged his wounded body to follow the frog. The talking frog.

"Well, come along. Boss'll get you healed right up!"

The little frog was quite spunky as it gestured for the injured man to follow.

Up above, a redheaded woman happened to see a flash of cloth and witnessed her husband snap his leg. That moment she created a clone to watch her kids, feeling lightheaded, as solid clones took a lot out of her. Once recovered, she ran out of the house and grabbed her husband, head and upper body submerged in a murky pool of algae infested water.

"Oh god! You have got to be kidding me right now."

Whether her words were in reference to the man's attire, the fact he was trying to slip into a pool barely as large as a common bath tub, or that his broken leg was starting to turn purple as it bled out internally was all up to speculation.

The woman was quick in pulling the drunken idiot from the water and pulling off his pajama top. She wouldn't leave it behind or try to throw it away, as he often sought it out while inebriated. No she simply set the wet clothing as an apron around her own waist, dirtying her own skirt while carrying Arashi, supporting the bad leg.

"And just where were you headed, mister?"

"The... the frog. He said to follow him to... the boss."

Even Arashi, in his state of altered mindset, realized how that sounded, even while speaking it. He fell silent, not even trying to explain further. Although, if he had bothered to look at the kunoichi, he may have been surprised to notice she was scouting the pool for a talking frog or toad.

Maybe, just maybe they could help. It wasn't something she'd hold her breath for, but it was a nice pleasant thought that would help her sleep at night.

"Mom, Bento-"

Menma was cut short when Karin whirled on the boy.

"Menma! What are you doing out here?!

Karin's face was frantic while she raced to the boy and picked him up in her arms. It was in seeing the worried look in the mother's eyes that made Arashi take action. He got up from the ground, his leg still messed up, and began to limp towards the house, a grimace on his face.

"Where's your sister? Menma?!"

Something strange began to happen as a red bubbling of some ethereal energy poured from the pores of Arashi's shin surrounding the limping boy's leg. Neither mother, nor son were witness, caught up as the two were in questions.

"But, mom! I needed to tell you something! It's important!"

 _ **SMACK!**_

"Nothing's so important to leave your sister alone!"

Arashi didn't stop as he began to put more and more strength on his leg. The red energy faded as if it were never there to begin with and Arashi ran. He ran like a deer, graceful and fast towards his home and smashed his way through the door.

The cheerful, cherub-like coos led the worried father to the baby's room where he found Mito lying on her back, hands reaching up for the toys dangling overhead.

"Huff... Thank all the Kami you're alright."

The baby gave him such a perplexed expression. Her innocent eyes reflected an intelligence that made the farther start. He pulled back a step with a soft gasp and watched with fear in his eyes when his six month old infant started to work her mouth.

"Da dawkniss... He's-"

"Arashi, what's the matter?"

The blonde haired teen shook his head before looking at Mito, burbling like an infant should. The young man wiped at his face before turning to smile at Karin.

"It's... Nothing... Just... Our baby is beautiful."

Karin moved to stand at his side, her slender figure with motherly curves appealed to her husband as she tickled Mito's belly, getting a soft little giggle.

"She really is the most beautiful baby I've ever seen..."

"So what did Menma have to say?"

Karin frowned while looking at her beau. The expression on her face was heavily perplexed that the man almost let the question go.

"What do you mean? He's been in here playing with you the entire time."

Arashi frowned as he turned to see Arashi on the floor doodling some strange pattern on a sheet of paper while gently humming.

'But, that doesn't make sense... He was outside with Karin!'

The man gritted his teeth while going over the thoughts in his head. Was it another walking nightmare? Perhaps it was brought on by that jar he drank?

The tweets of the birds grew rapidly in excitement and settled Arashi's nerves, his face calming and relaxing. He turned his gaze towards the window to watch the birds chase one another while a few wild deer moved through yard, munching on berries and nuts while the beasts' ears twitched. The scene was serene and reminded the builder why he loved being out here in Wave.

"Arashi? Maybe you should take the day off tomorrow?"

The blonde sighed and nodded his head. Yeah, that was what he needed, time to rest and relax. It wasn't that his work was stressful, not in the least, but sometimes being with one's family was a remedy to fix the worst problems.

Arashi moved to kiss Mito on her cute button nose before righting himself. He looked to Karin with such a soft smile as he wrapped her in his arms.

"How about a date night? I'll see if I can't get Inari or Tsunami to watch the kids."

Karin noised her head, a faint blush spreading along her cheeks. It was silly, but to this day, the man before her could make her so flustered, so filled with that giddy sensation of a crushing schoolgirl!

Unseen by either was the way Menma and his shadow were eyeing the couple, a darkness shrouding the boy's face dangerously. Even as a small smile spread.

If one were to look at the doodle the boy drew, they would see a perfect replica of the Shikifuuin (Dead-god's Seal) coupled with the Eight Trigrams Seal surrounding the seal on either side were a set of Sharingan eyes, watching in a hauntingly faded fashion...


End file.
